


Anima Sex Fragmenta (The Soul of Six Pieces)

by iamtheoneinthehole



Series: Animi, Animus et Anima [2]
Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-14
Updated: 2014-03-14
Packaged: 2018-01-15 17:13:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,307
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1312759
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iamtheoneinthehole/pseuds/iamtheoneinthehole
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Prompted by ryanthemadking; 'Would you ever consider writing one of the other guys' POV of Animi Animus et Anima? I'd really like to see how they handled Gav shutting them out.'</p>
<p>Michael’s Jones had been six years old when he’d first heard voices in his head that weren’t his own.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Anima Sex Fragmenta (The Soul of Six Pieces)

**Author's Note:**

> I really enjoyed revisiting the events of Animi, Animus et Anima from Michael’s POV so thanks for the lovely prompt ryanthemadking! I hope I did it justice!

Michael Jones had been six years old when he'd first heard voices in his head that weren't his own.

_-you think it'll be before he can hear us?_

_Hard to say. Rye-bread here took his damn time to make his voice known. You know I was only talking to him a week before we both started talking to you._

_What was it like before you could hear us Geoff?_

_Kinda lonely to be honest. I don't exactly envy the poor fuckers who have a ten year age gap with their bondmate, must be hell._

_Yeah must be..._

_So I guess its just a case of playing the waiting game then?_

_Guess so..._

_Who are you? And why are you in my head?_

A beat of silence and then, _Spoke too soon I guess, hey there kid I'm Geoff._

_Michael and I'm not a kid. I'm six... and a half!_

_Sounds pretty grown up to me Geoff. Hi Michael, I'm Ryan._

_Who's the other one?_

_That would be me. Jack Pattillo._

_Jack Patti... your name's funny._

_How is it funny?_

_It sounds weird._ He could feel a strange tingling in his chest, almost as if he was laughing but wasn't and beneath that there was something else, a feeling he felt around his parents or his best friends... he wasn't really sure if that feeling was his or theirs... maybe both.

_You know Ryan told me the same thing when we first met?_

_To be fair Jack I was seven back then._

_How old are you now?_

_Thirteen._

_Wow... you're old._

_Not as old as Geoff._

_How old's he?_

_Seventeen though he acts like a five year old most of the time._

_Hey!_

_He's not just old, he's ancient._

_Thanks kid, you sure do know how to make a guy feel good about himself._

_So... why are you in my head?_

_It's to do with something called soul bonding... we'll explain when you're older._

Michael pouted a little at that, _Yeah you're definitely old. Only old people say that._ More faint tingles of amusement that wasn't his own and then.

_I can tell this one's gonna be a handful._

_Yeah but he's our handful Geoff._

_Aww Rye-bread that was cute as dicks._

_Shut up._

_How are dicks cute?_ Even more tingles that seemed to make something warm unfurl within Michael's chest.

_We'll let you explain that one Geoff._

_You guys are assho-_

_Six year old child Geoff, remember?_

_Six and a half!_

\----

As time had passed, Michael had grown to get used to Geoff, Ryan and Jack being in his head. It was actually kind of nice to have them there, making him smile, teaching him the bad words that his parents were always so shocked by when he came out with them, listening Ryan and Jack tell Geoff off for telling him the bad words, having them comfort him when teachers or other kids were being mean, having them play games with him where they'd go on 'quests' together exploring imaginary worlds with dragons and monsters and Ryan usually ended up playing the bad guy that he Geoff and Jack had to defeat and Michael always ended up convincing him to join them in the end then they'd knight him as the mighty 'Mogar', greatest knight in all of the world... it was fun, to be able to play pretend with them. Ryan had this really cool 'scary voice' he'd use for the bad guys and Jack knew a lot about castles so that they felt more real when they played in them and Geoff knew tactics so that they'd always be able to win their battles. Best part was, even if they were kind of old, they seemed to have as much fun playing with Michael as he did with them. So yeah, having voices in his head had actually turned out to be pretty great.

Then he'd found out that there'd soon be two new voices in there too and he'd quickly gotten impatient about it.

_Why can’t he just stop being dumb and not listening?_

_Michael it doesn’t work like that._ Michael didn't really understand why that was. He, Ryan, Jack and Geoff managed it, so why couldn't this other voice that they were supposed to start hearing 'soon' (Michael hated that word since it usually meant ages) and the one after that do it?

_What if they just don’t like us?_

_Of course they will dumbass, why wouldn’t they?_

_Geoff are you sure its a good idea to use that language in front of Michael, he’s only eight remember._

_Hey eight and a half! Plus I bet I know more swear words than you!_ It wasn't entirely true but that didn't mean he had to let Ryan know that.

_You do huh?_

_Yeah like… um… motherfucker!_ He offered proudly, feeling Jack and Geoff's amusement in his chest just seconds before...

_…Geoff I swear to god._

_Hey don’t look at me! It was probably Jack._

_…Actually it might’ve been me._

_And piece of shit._ He chimed in helpfully, grinning a little to himself when he felt Rye-bread fume a little in response.

_Okay that one wasn’t me._

_Really Geoff?_

_I’d had a long day._

_What’s a piece of shit?_ And there it'd been, the new voice with the funny accent that'd sent his stomach fluttering a little before he'd been able to get that under control. They'd talked with him for a while, getting to know little things about him like his name (Gavin) and his age (seven and a half) and the fact that he couldn't say Michael's name right (Micoo)... he kind of liked that though. He just wasn't entirely sure why.

\----

It'd taken another year before Michael had heard Ray's voice for the first time. He'd been in the middle of class when he'd heard it and had begun to completely ignore what the teacher was saying in favor of getting to know the new voice in his head a little better. Ray Narvaez Jr, seven years old, likes roses... For some reason that last detail had seemed more important to remember than anything he'd been meant to learn in school that day.

\----

After that there'd been no more waiting for new voices to show up in his head, the five there seeming like just the right amount for everything to be perfect so he hadn't wished for anymore. Something about them just made him feel a little more whole and as he'd grown up and Geoff had _finally_ told him about soul bonding he'd begun to understand why. One day these five boys would be his... It was a thought that made him smile, even if he still didn't fully understand what being 'his' really meant yet, because something about that was just as perfect as having their five voices in his head. And as he'd grown older still, he'd grown more and more excited by the prospect of being able to call Geoff, Ryan, Jack, Gavin and Ray his own

He'd been thirteen years old by the time any of them had actually met each other face to face though, and of course it'd been Geoff and Ryan that'd gotten to meet up first...

He'd ended up venting his frustrations to Gavin, the voice with the funny accent that sometimes referred to him as 'boi' now (Michael wasn't entirely sure how he'd picked up the nickname but he liked it so it'd stuck), admitting that he was jealous as hell that they'd gotten to meet up before the rest of them and teasing him a little when he'd asked what Michael thought it was they were doing right now... He hadn't quite been able to resist trying to tell Gavin where he was after that. Because maybe they were all ready to meet up now and that was why Geoff and Ryan had run into each other... but then he'd felt Gavin's head spin and had known what he'd secretly always suspected. That they'd have to wait a while longer yet to meet each other the way Geoff and Ryan had.

Sometimes life wasn't fucking fair.

\----

Michael had turned sixteen by the time Jack had met Geoff and Ryan in a game store. By then he'd sort of come to terms with the waiting. His regular talks with Gavin about it after the Ryan-Geoff thing a few years back had helped a little with that, as had growing up he guessed, because he'd sort of accepted that he'd have to wait for his bondmates. That was okay though, because he knew it'd be worth it when he eventually got to meet them.

He could tell it'd bothered Ray more this time though but, thankfully, Gavin had jumped right in there to reassure him and by the time Michael had joined the conversation they'd been teasing Gavin about his 'wisdom-y stuff', all thoughts of Geoff, Ryan and Jack forgotten for a moment as they kept Ray's mind off his insecurities as well as their own.

\----

Michael hadn't quite been able to believe it a few years later when he'd seen Ray's name in an online gaming forum. Of course the world had lots of Rays and chances were this was just another Ray that wasn't his Ray but, scrolling through the guys comments, he found that the guy sounded a lot like his Ray... and by the time he noticed the mentions of roses, he was pretty sure it was him.

He'd shot him a message online, chatting with him for an hour or so under the alias of 'Mogar' (a little hint that Ray didn't seem to pick up on which made Michael second guess his previous assumptions a little) before finally giving Ray's mind a gentle tug through their bond and asking him if that word meant anything to him.

A sudden surge of excited disbelief that wasn't quite his own and a typed 'Michael' with a question mark had pretty effectively quietened his remaining doubts as to whether or not this was his bondmate.

After that they'd made quick arrangements to meet up and less than a week later found them in each other's arms as Michael gripped him tightly, almost as if he was scared that if he let go Ray might slip away from him or that he might collapse under the weight of the sudden euphoria coursing through the both of them.

And when they'd pulled back and he'd kissed Ray for the first time he was pretty sure that nothing had ever been so goddamned perfect in his life.

\----

He should've noticed sooner. They all should've. But they'd been so busy being caught up in the bondmates they'd met... they'd forgotten that there was still one of them who hadn't met any of them yet. He'd forgotten how when he'd felt jealous of Ryan and Geoff, Gavin had told him he'd felt the same or how when Ray had seemed distressed, Gavin had been the first one in there to comfort him because he'd known and understood what the man had been going through.

They should've noticed sooner that Gavin being alone that much longer than the rest of them was getting to him. They should've realized when he started pushing away... They'd realized too late, when he'd already begun to shut him out and no nudges from him or concerned queries from Ryan were going to undo the damage that'd been done.

Michael had been nineteen years old when his bondmate had shut him out completely.

He hadn't coped well with it, well none of them had, but Michael possibly worst of all. He'd been angry at first, calling Gavin every name he could think of as he'd paced around his apartment. He'd thrown things, his xbox included (only to blame it on some crappy game when a concerned Ray had asked about it), screaming a few times into the silence when the lack of Gavin's voice had gotten too much and, on the nights where Ray didn't stay over, he'd stay awake, tossing and turning and sometimes beating the shit out of his own damn pillow.

Eventually the anger had died down as Gavin had continued to show no signs of letting any of them in and it'd quickly faded to a quieter sort of loss. He'd stopped talking himself for a while through the bond, though he'd made sure Ray let the others know he wasn't shutting them out, he was still listening he just... wasn't up for talking right now. Not when he knew Gavin wouldn't hear him.

The others had seemed to understand and for a while their bond had grown almost silent, no one really willing to speak just in case that meant they missed the sound of their Brit's voice, in case he decided to return to them...

After a few months they'd more or less given up any hope of that had begun attempting to ignore the gaping hole in all of their chests as they'd started using the bond to talk to each other again. It hadn't really worked but hearing each other's voices had helped a little.

All the same, it hadn't helped enough for Michael to stop trying, at least once a day, to break the Brit's mental barriers down. It'd started out as an all out assault on the walls he'd built, back when it'd first happened and he'd been pissed as hell at Gavin but now it was more of a gentle nudge and a 'Please come back Gav, we miss you.' He never got a response. Honestly, he wasn't sure if it was worse to think he wasn't hearing him or that he was but had just ignored it after a while.

At least he wasn't hurt or dying, the spirit bond told them that much but... even that was weaker now as if Gavin was shutting out their emotions as well as their thoughts and honestly, the thought that Gavin would want to cut ties with them so completely just made things a thousand times worse.

And so Michael had found a way to channel his emotions, starting up a series called 'ragequit' where he yelled at shitty video games (seeing as his reactions to those had always seemed to make Ray laugh when he'd watched him). Without really meaning to, he'd become a hit as his channel had taken off and before long he'd been posting weekly ragequits and Ray had set up his own channel where he essentially kicked ass and took names (since the guy was scarily good when it came to anything gaming related)... it'd helped a little.

And apparently Geoff's web series had been helping their bondmates through this too as it'd taken off in a similar fashion (they'd tried to ask once what the series was but apparently knowing the name would've been as good as giving away their location as far as the bond was concerned so they'd ended up accepting that they'd know one day and hey, on the bright side, it looked like the series would be a success if knowing which one it was would end up being that much of a giveaway). They'd found their own ways to... not forget but to pretend to for just a little while. To cope. It wasn't quite living but... it was better than the alternative.

\----

_Michael, Ray stop whatever you're doing right now we've found him._

_...What?_

_You know I told you about Griffon?_

_The badass chick in R &D with almost as many tattoos as you?_

_That's the one. Well you'll never guess who she's been playing xbox with all this time._

_...You're kidding me._

_I'm not. Apparently they were talking earlier and he mentioned all of our names so she's certain its him._

_Well... is he okay?_

_Fine as far as she could tell though she claims he's suffering from a pretty severe case of dumbass._

_I think we can all agree she's right about that._

_Well have you spoken to him yet?_

_Griff's got a better plan to make sure he doesn't run away from us again._

_What's the plan?_

_We're gonna fly him out to us._

_...You know where he is?_

_Yeah and now he knows where Griff is and he's saving up money to come visit our company._

_The company he has no idea you work for._

_None at all. We're gonna meet him off the plane and make sure he knows he's the idiot he is and then we're gonna bring him home and make him open up the damn bond and grovel._

_Good. Fuck knows we deserve it after what he's put us through._

_I have to go record some lines but we'll talk later._

_Bye Geoff..._ After that they'd both been left reeling in the knowledge that they might be hearing Gavin's voice again soon... It'd been Ray who'd smiled first, the first genuine smile Michael could remember seeing in years and Michael found himself returning it as he'd grinned and spun Ray around in his arms, the two of them giddy and laughing like idiots but not really caring because soon that empty hole in their chests wouldn't be quite so empty anymore. Griffon had managed to guide their boy back home.

\----

It'd been a month later that they'd felt it. The euphoria and the crack in Gavin's walls as they'd finally come crumbling down, a mess of 'sorrys' coming through the bond as guilt and love came pouring off the Brit in waves. Michael had ended up having to completely scrap the ragequit he'd been recording because he'd ended up grinning like an idiot instead of yelling at his screen... he couldn't honestly say he'd minded too much though.

Of course, he hadn't let the Brit know about that. Michael had meant it when he'd told Geoff they deserved grovelling for what Gavin had put them through and he and Ray had stood their ground on that for a good two weeks before Gavin's pleas for forgiveness had finally gotten rambly and desperate and honestly that was far too fucking endearing to really stay mad at the Brit for long.

Now they both just wished they could meet him and the others. At this point Michael really didn't understand what was holding the bond back. Clearly they were all now emotionally 'ready' for what it entailed given the fact that they'd all met at least one of their bondmates but the bond could be an unrelenting piece of shit sometimes and Michael's head still spun anytime one of the others tried to tell him their location.

In the end, it'd been an offer from an online gaming company called Roosterteeth that'd ended up changing everything. Apparently the company saw a lot of 'potential' in Michael's ragequit videos and Ray's gaming abilities and wanted to call them both in for an interview to see if they'd be interested in a position at their company.

Michael had, initially, been reluctant but Ray had seemed pretty enthused when he'd found out about the offer and that kind of enthusiasm was more than a little contagious really so, in the end, they'd ended up driving over to their office in Austin.

Two steps inside the door of the meeting room and Michael had known he'd made the right choice when he'd let Ray talk him into this. Especially when a few seconds later they'd had a hyperactive Brit barrel into them, Ray bursting into amused laughter as Michael rolled his eyes and called him an 'idiot', though he was sure the fondness in his tone gave him away.

The others had joined them pretty quickly after that and just like that the final pieces of their (slightly dysfunctional) puzzle had slotted into place. It'd honestly felt fucking incredible and so worth the damn wait.


End file.
